Present socio-economic systems are based on two general forms of representation. The most popular economic system, capitalism, is based on representative pricing that seeks to efficiently allocate scarce resources. And, among the developed countries, the most popular political form is the republic, also known as representative democracy, which seeks to allocate political control through elected representatives.
First focussing on economic forms to understand one of the motivations of the present invention, history has repeatedly taught that market-based allocation of resources results in more productive use of resources than does centrally-planned resource allocation. Not surprisingly, economies that have embraced market-based principles have in general flourished, and economies that have embraced Leninism or other state-directed resource allocation have in general failed.
Nevertheless, capitalism is characterized by several shortcomings. First, it is possible through contemporary marketing techniques to distort market perceptions, thereby creating demand for potentially inferior products at prices that are higher than perfect capitalism would dictate. In other words, one of the disadvantages of capitalism in practice is that one of Adam Smith's most important assumptions, namely, that market participants have instant access to perfect market information, has been virtually impossible to achieve, thereby causing distortions in the efficient allocation of resources.
Moreover, varying degrees of accuracy and currency of market information for different market participants can result in further market distortions, such as speculation by insiders. These market distortions tend to further disrupt the productive utilization of resources.
Additionally, irrevocability and exclusivity of resource control, whether among private controllers as in capitalism or state controllers as in communism, can result in irresponsible resource allocation. This problem is exacerbated in communism, which typically exists in a totalitarian political environment that is unresponsive to the demands of market participants. However, the problem remains, although in a less severe form, in capitalism. This is because capitalism typically exists in a political environment that, while comparatively responsive to its citizens, is loosely coupled to the free market and thus relatively sluggish and ineffectual in dealing with irresponsible resource controllers. Indeed, in a representative system, only governments and lending institutions are able to create tokens of exchange, and many worthy endeavors consequently can be cash-starved while undeserving endeavors are over-capitalized due to social preferences peculiar to political and economic representatives.
Still further, modern economic systems, as mentioned above, are based on the premise of resource scarcity. Resource scarcity, however, is not always an economic fact of life. For example, so-called nanotechnology (in one conception, the digital replication, molecule by molecule, of physical objects) has been postulated, a concept spawned by the ever-increasing capabilities and capacities of digital computers. Indeed, although digital nanotechnology may not be imminent, the economic principles highlighted by the prospect of nanotechnology already apply to many forms of digital media. Should nanotechnology ever become a reality as presently envisioned, resource scarcity and, hence, the underpinning of contemporary economic systems, could cease to be problematic. Stated differently, the entire basis of contemporary economic systems the allocation of scarce resources--is undermined by the existence of digital media and might evaporate entirely in the presence of future technologies. Accordingly, the present invention is premised on the evaluation of opportunity instead of the evaluation of scarcity.
Next focussing on contemporary political forms to understand the motivation for the present invention, as stated above in most advanced countries democratic will is exercised through elected representatives. Elected representatives, however, generally advance the causes of their parties, not necessarily those of the electorate, because party support is necessary to be elected in the first place and marketing techniques can to a large extent obviate public dissatisfaction with this. When the goals of a political party become oriented toward preservation of party power, they can diverge from the basic goal of popular government, namely, the implementation of the will of the majority within constricts that ensure the protection of the minority.
Direct representation, however, has heretofore not been feasible. It simply has not been practical to obtain the individual advice and consent of each and every citizen of a polis to resolve every political matter, and for this reason representative democracy has been regarded by some (although not by all, including not by Plato) to be the next best thing to a true democracy in which every political matter is put to a popular vote.
As recognized by the present invention, however, with the advent and likely progress of computer technology, direct representation can indeed be practicable and feasible. Moreover, the present invention recognizes that more closely coupling a market-based economic system with a direct representation political system can alleviate if not eliminate the above-noted shortcomings of contemporary economic and political forms. As further recognized by the present invention, such a coupling can be achieved without necessarily displacing more traditional socioeconomic forms in a manner that would not have been feasible to implement prior to the advent of digital computers and communications. As still further understood by the present invention, such an effective socio-economic form, properly scaled, can be useful whether the individual members of the society are individual people, or corporate groups, or nations, or indeed whether the individual members are humans or automata.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for allocating resources in a society and for distributing political control among members of a society. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for allocating resources and administering policy in a computer network. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a socio-economic system in which control is decentralized and in which capital and authority are directly originated by members of the society. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a socioeconomic system in which resource ownership and policy determination are united in a single market-based mechanism.